Inspiration, Pain, Love, Struggles, Hope, Desperation, Admiration, Fear, Motivation.
This is what life is and what we face each day.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Helping out

Back in the summer, Taylor held a fund raiser to help out veterans, called Gunny's Veterans Ride. She has been able to do some really nice things with the money she has raised.

She gave some money to homeless veterans, she gave some money to a veteran who has become very sick and the medical bills mounted, she gave some money to help get a flight of WWII veterans to Washington to see their monument. Once she heard about this, and was able to give a sizable donation, she found out that much more money was needed. She made a few phone calls and I am so proud to say, she got enough money on her own to fund half of the flight!!!

What was really cool about this was, the people in charge were so impressed, that when Taylor presented the check to them, they told her SHE was going with these great heroes! So, Taylor was able to fly back to Washington with over a dozen of our greatest generation and spend a whole special and magical day with them.

I will have to post pictures of that day later as most from Taylor's camera didn't turn out. It was a spectacular day for her and they also went in to an air museum and she was able to see the Enola Gay. To be able to share this afternoon with these men was amazing for her as she got to witness first hand all of them seeing THEIR monument for the first time. She got to witness their emotions and she got to hear some incredible stories first hand.

What has made this even more special was that she was able to have our neighbor, Jack Palmer, go with her. He was a top turret gunner on the B17. He took with him his beloved friend, Ray Hora.

Ray fought in Germany, France, Belgium, Africa and The Battle of The Bulge. Sadly, Ray just passed away. I told Taylor that she was able to give him a gift he hadn't gotten, she was able to make sure he went on that flight, he went and did some healing and hopefully, in his heart, he got closure. I will also post more about that later with pictures of Ray.